Montag, 18. Februar 2008

One killed in Beirut - Updates

*** Gaza-Streifen: Bei den erwähnten Gefechten in der Rafah-Zone wird ein israelischer soldat schwer verletzt. Am Nachmittag werden zwei Angriffe aus dem Gazastreifen auf israelische Ziele notiert. Dabei trifft eine Qassam-Rakete ein ziviles Gebäude in Sderot. Verletzt wird niemand. Fünf weitere Abschüsse werden später gemeldet. Auf israelischer Seite ist ein Kabinettsbeschluß zu notieren: A special ministerial committee on Sunday approved a budget of NIS 350 million for the fortification of 3,600 homes within a range of 4.5 kilometers from the Gaza Strip, by adding a secure room to each housing unit. The government eventually planned to fortify 8,000 homes in the Gaza periphery, but would first deal with weak-structured homes and those located in the most hard-hit areas. Das dies keine Lösung des Problems darstellt sollte klar sein. Die Aktivitäten der Hamas auf der ägyptischen Seite der Grenze werden heute als sehr erfolglos dargestellt: Hamas has voiced confidence that Egypt will supply the Gaza Strip with its basic needs to avoid a humanitarian crisis, but an official source in Cairo said on Sunday that Egypt would make no deal to reopen its Gaza border without the consent of Israel, Western powers and Hamas's Fatah rivals in the West Bank. Egyptian and Hamas officials held talks last week. Following the meeting, senior official and spokesman for Hamas Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters in an interview following the meetings: "There is an understanding with the Egyptians to supply Gaza with its needs and we are talking about arrangements and a mechanism to make that happen." However, the Egyptian source said Cairo was for now likely to stand by a U.S.-brokered agreement it made when Israel withdrew troops from Gaza in 2005 that gives Israel an effective veto over movement across the Gaza-Egypt frontier. "That's where we stand at the moment," the source told Reuters, making clear Cairo was not prepared to harm relations with Israel, the United States, European Union and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. "The Israelis don't want anything to do with Hamas at all, even at second-hand." Der Versuch der Hamas eine alleinige Kontrolle der Grenze auszuhandeln ist gescheitert. Zurück in Israel kann man wenig erkennen das die jüngsten Polit-aktivitäten den Leuten von Sderot nützlich erscheinen: Southern protest reaches High Court: About 40 Sderot residents announced Sunday evening that they refuse to leave the High Court of Justice in Jerusalem. The residents were protesting the postponement of the discussion on a petition submitted by Sderot business owners. Nach seiner schweren Kritik an der israelischen Blockade des Gazastreifens beweist jemand Neutralität: UN Undersecretary of Humanitarian Affairs John Holmes advocated pressuring the leaders of Hamas to halt the rocket fire at Sderot, during a visit to town on Sunday. Holmes condemned the Kassam fire, saying the real victims were the civilians, and that this was a violation of all principles of human rights. "We condemn absolutely the firing of these rockets. There's no justification for it. They are indiscriminate, there's no military target," he told The Associated Press.

*** Westbank: Nachdem am Samstag ein Siedler bei einem Molotow-Coctail-Anschalg auf sein Auto verletzt wird wird in Pisgat Ze'ev [Jerusalem] bei einer Steinwurfattacke auf einen israelischen Bus eine Person am Sonntag verletzt. Aus dem Nablus-Distrikt werden die Errichtung mehrerer neuer Checkpoints gemeldet. Während der französische Aussenminister Kouchner gestern noch zu verstärktem Tourisimus-Anstrengungen westlicher Bürger nach Bethlehem aufrief hat die Stadt andere Probleme: s to the West Bank city of Bethlehem through a checkpoint far to the south of the city is raising concerns that Israel plans to complete a plan to isolate Bethlehem from the surrounding area. The governor of Bethlehem, Salah Ta'mari, said on Sunday that the plan to make fuel deliveries at the Tarqumiya crossing point, near the city of Hebron, instead of Al-Khader, near Bethlehem, is dangerous. [...] Ta'mari said the plan will increase already high fuel prices, and could signal a plan to complete Israel's illegal separation wall in the Bethlehem area. He said the plan could also involve the long-expected closure of Route 60, the main highway between Bethlehem and Hebron. Shutting down that road would force Palestinians to take a longer, more circuitous route between the two cities. Kouchner selbst beweist sich als erneut perfekter Wendehals: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Sunday that progress was evident in Israeli and Palestinian peace efforts, after remarking earlier in the day that negotiations have appeared stagnant since a U.S.-sponsored conference late last year. After meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Sunday evening at the end of a two-day visit to the region, Kouchner said he could see progress in negotiations and encouraged the two sides to continue advancing joint projects to improve the situation on the ground.

*** Mughniyeh-Case: The U.S. intelligence chief said Sunday that internal Hezbollah factions or Syria may be to blame for the killing of top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyah last week. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said the United States is still reviewing the case following the death last Tuesday of Mughniyah in a car bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus. [...] Meanwhile, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told the cabinet Sunday that Syria and Iran my assist Hezbollah in striking Israeli targets following the assassination of its deputy leader Tuesday in Damascus. "It's safe to assume Hezbollah will try to retaliate for the assassination of Imad Mughniyah, possibly with Iranian and Syrian assistance," Barak said. [...] Kommentar: "The Mughniyeh Hit, bracing for revenge": The assassination of Imad Mugniyah, the Hezbollah terrorist, in Damascus last week was a warning that even the most elusive prey can be hunted down, given skill, determination and patience on the part of the hunter. The blast that dispatched Mugniyah, a top target for Israeli and American intelligence for most of three decades, was heard loud and clear by Khaled Mashal, the exiled political chief of Palestinian Hamas, who at the time was meeting with Syrian intelligence officers only a few hundred yards away.

*** Strategisch: On February 8, 2008, Martin Indyk and Harvey Sicherman addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Mr. Indyk, former ambassador to Israel and assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs during the Clinton administration, currently directs the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution. Mr. Sicherman is president and director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute in Philadelphia. The following is a rapporteur's summary of their remarks.